Thank you for joining us at the Kennedy Space Center

The 2016 Midwest Noyce Connections: Exploring Space Science Conference was held at the Kennedy Space Center in Titusville, Florida, from June 20-22, 2016. The primary audience was Noyce Scholars and Fellows (in-service secondary math and science teachers and pre-service Noyce Scholars) and Master Teaching Fellows, with a secondary audience of PIs/co-PIs/STEM collegiate faculty. Sessions included the opportunity for participants to: tour the complex, discuss payload scenarios, strategize for the 2017 solar eclipse, meet the distance learning coordinator for the Kennedy Space Center, meet an astronaut, experience a shuttle launch simulator and create lesson plans together, with the goal of leaving with enhanced understanding of NASA and space science, as well as classroom applications of integrated STEM learning. Conference participants will share lesson plan ideas with the other Midwest Noyce Scholars.

Featured in the News: UNL’s Center for Science, Mathematics and Computer Education recently gave 14 of Nebraska’s math and science educators the opportunity to visit the Kennedy Space Center for a three-day conference to inspire new curricula in their classrooms. The CSMCE supported the conference through its Midwest Noyce Connections grant, funded by the National Science Foundation. Nearly 100 teachers and university faculty attended the conference from Noyce projects in 12 Midwestern states.

Slides are now posted on the 2015 site from the plenary speakers and several breakout sessions. Conference sessions included plenary speakers; breakout sessions with presentations from the Noyce community; panel discussions targeting various conference audiences; and structured networking opportunities, including a poster session. Conference participants are encouraged to connect with one another via a closed, LinkedIn™ group. Please join LinkedIn now and request membership in the Midwest Regional Noyce Community group.

Description: John Sutton, Brandie Ward, and Emma Espel from RMC Research drew upon experience as Noyce evaluators with multiple Noyce project types, as well as connections within the Noyce community, lead this second of two webinars. While the first webinar provided an overview of different types of evaluation questions used to examine common topics, this webinar sought to help principal investigators and evaluators feel better prepared to answer two questions: What instruments can be used to examine and evaluate your Noyce Project? Once you’ve selected an instrument, how do you customize it to meet the needs of your project? This webinar reviewed existing data collection strategies and instruments that are best suited in evaluation of Noyce grants and discussed customization of measures to meet the needs of evaluations. Participants are invited to share their existing instrumentations for sharing across the Noyce community.

Description: John Sutton, Brandie Ward, and Emma Espel from RMC Research drew upon experience as Noyce evaluators with multiple Noyce project types, as well as connections within the Noyce community, to lead this first of two webinars. Ultimately, the webinar sought to help principal investigators and evaluators feel better prepared to answer two questions: What do you want to examine in your Noyce Project evaluation and how do you examine and evaluate your Noyce Project? This webinar involved an overview of the different types of evaluation questions used to examine common topics.